TR: Dixie 2hundo

[springsproject]

I did a hugely popular race over this past weekend. By hugely popular I mean that there were 4 of us.





After a big, long dirt road climb the views opened up a bit





A few hours in it was time to get some h2o and snack on a burrito.





The Marathon not Trail. It's really, really faint in places. To put it in other words it simply does not exist except for on the gps screen





Looking ahead at the Virgin River Rim Trail. It traverses the ridge for 20ish miles, nice singletrack riding out there!





Looking back on VRRT





A few miles of dirt roads out to a delectable gas station dinner. This is Jeremy, he did the whole route sans pack and helmet





Some easy evening cruising towards the Paunsaugunt Plateau





So flowy!





I camped here the first night. The night riding before I stopped to sleep consisted of a Super Moon illuminating the cliffs and creating a surreal feeling. Even the mountain lions were happy




Getting packed up for day 2, watched the sunrise and the moon set. One of the best camp spots ever!





Sandview Trail. It was kind of like trying to ride on a beach with a steady uphill and then when it changed to downhill it still wasn't really ridable. Fat bike anyone? Oh yeah, and there was lots of fresh cow shit too





Cool cliffs on the Crawfors Pass trail





Thunder Mountain, no explanation needed





Dinner consisted of a muffin, an ice cream cone and a soda! About 6 hours later my legs were wobbling me up the Spruces Trail. Seems that just simple HAB is not enough, a bit more of a full body workout was in effect at 1am





The last bit of alpine singletrack before the chuck-o-mattic Dark Hollow finish





Beer at 9 in the morning is acceptable when you've been riding for 2 straight days

[systemoverblow'd]

Sweet stuff.

[bennymac]

Badass type 3 fun. Nice work.

[crashtestdummy]

I believe I passed you guys on the Te-Ah climb up from Navajo Lake, last Saturday. That is quite a ride you undertook.

So how many blown down trees did you have to cross?

As far as I've been able to tell, Marathon, Grandview, and Spruce are trails in name only. Marathon at least connects other roads and trails.

I rode Grandview 10 or 12 years ago with the guy that cut some of the trail. It was his first time riding it, and at the end he said "boy that trail really sucks". I ride around Navajo Lake on my fat bike, but I have almost zero desire to take it over to Grandview.

[springsproject]

Were you the fat bike dude with the dog? Did you have a Nat'l Bike Patrol shirt on? What is Nat'l Bike Patrol?

Anyway, the Marathon Trail coming down from Sydney Peaks/B Head area is pretty cool singletrack. It's a little more rugged than you average, heavily used trail but in general its pretty fun. From there it turns into dirt roads for several miles and crosses the red desert and eventually down to Te-ah. Periodically it disappears into the sage brush.

Grandview is really one that lives up to its name. Getting up to it the way we went was rather comical but once on the Grandview its very established. It's sandy in spots but very ridable and fun in others and well signed the whole way. To me, it seems like its begged to be ridden on a fat tired steed. I'm not a fat bike owner but I get the impression that they're made for terrain like that with a heavy emphasis on exploration and getting away from the groomed stuff. Otherwise, what do you need 4 inch tires for?

Spruces was where the deadfall was all hiding. That trail is ultra-tech and I really want to go and shuttle it from Sydney Peaks someday, that is of course, if I know it had been cleared of trees. I probably had to go over about 15 different blow downs?

[crashtestdummy]

Yeah, I was the fat dude, on the fat bike, with the fat dog. The National Mountain Bike Patrol works like the Ski Patrol, we are part of IMBA. Our particular patrol works with Dixie National Forest and the local BLM.

The marathon is a good idea, it's just that nobody ever rides it. The Sydney Peaks part is actually an older trail called Lowder Ponds. The single track after the Red Desert was new about 10 years ago, but I haven't ridden it since then.

When I went out to Grandview, it was dead calm. I was engulfed in a dust cloud from a vehicle a mile in front of me. Besides all the sand and stupid steep climbs, I ran out of both food and water on that ride. The trail was an old horse trail that got updated, so that explains it's ups and downs.

If you only had 15 blow downs, you were real lucky. About 4 weeks ago when I first rode the Navajo Lake loop, the were at least 50 across the trail, and over 20 just on the TeAh climb.

I've lived in the area for 16 years and I don't think I've ever met anyone that's ridden the Spuces, that's how popular it is.

[Daywalker]

Nice job Mike... what you're saying is you beat 3 old guys?

Number 1! Number 1! Number 1!

[marshalolson]

rad dude, great pics!

but seriously, you finished that ride going down dark hallow? gnar bar.

[300hp]

Fuck yes to your badass adventure, and even more yes to doing it with minions, a dropper post and a proper mountain bike.

You are a monster.

[beaterdit]

AND he runs a 1X10 with a 34 tooth ring and a proper guide.

Mike's too humble to post the stats but here they are:

~205 miles, 25K vertical feet, 30 hours in the saddle, total time start to finish: 49 hours, 49 minutes, a new course record.

Two of four riders, half the field, didn't finish.

Badass.

[spicy cha cha]

wow. this is the definition of burly

Beer at 9 in the morning is acceptable when you've been riding for 2 straight days

9am beer is not only acceptable, it's mandatory!

[frorider]

Cool TR, thx. I've ridden in that area but it's been many years.

[connersw]

Nice job Mike... what you're saying is you beat 3 old guys?

I spot Zeus in that line up, and that dude is no slouch. Old or not.

Seriously impressive.